In an extraordinary move by a U.S. President, who has shown little hesitation in undermining some of the most important science institutions in our country, the entire National Science Board, which supervises the National Science Foundation, was fired on April 22. The board members were informed of this by e-mail. The NSF was one of the institutions established after World War II as a part of the apparatus that Vannevar Bush proposed to replicate the system created during the war effort in science and technology, in order to use the advancement of science to drive the civilian economy. It was also the intent that the NSF would retain some independence from the government to assure that science was not affected by changing political winds in Washington
It is not known what set off this mass purge. It may be the case that Trump will reappoint a board consisting of his loyalists. The board was in the process of publishing a report on the “health” of American science, “Science and Engineering Indicators of 2026,” which drew the conclusion that China is investing much more in sci-tech, threatening to leave the U.S. behind, conclusions that Trump may not have wanted circulated. He may now appoint his loyalists in those posts or simply allow the organization to wither on the vine.
